Kiss Privacy Goodbye When On Your Office Computer

CHRISTINE WINTER TECHNOLOGY

Have you ever used your office computer to shop online? Or maybe to write an e-mail to a fellow drone about what a jerk the boss is, or to comment on the physical endowments of a fellow worker?

Perhaps you even posted your resume at Monster.com, or downloaded a few tunes or software programs, or clicked on a link to a racy Web site?

Well, you'd better think twice about those office forays into cyberspace these days.

Chances are, your company knows all about your little surfing adventures, and possibly even has those e-mails tucked into an archive somewhere on backup tapes. That doesn't mean anybody has actually read them, but they would be accessible should the need arise, all categorized according to the offensive keywords that flagged them.

Corporate snooping has become a common practice these days, and experts warn that anything you do online on an office computer is "open for inspection."

You company probably isn't all that worried about your ordering a book online during your lunch hour. But it is concerned about its liability if you send harassing or discriminatory e-mails, if you download copyrighted software or music onto company machines, if you waste company time -- not to mention bandwidth -- chatting or shopping or e-mailing the family photo album to out-of-town relatives.

According to a 2001 survey by the American Management Association, 63 percent of the companies surveyed said they monitor Internet connections, and 47 percent said they store and review e-mail.

Companies are within their legal rights to monitor all e-mail and Internet activity on their computer systems, under the Electronics Communications Privacy Act, said Nancy Flynn, executive director of the ePolicy Institute, which deals with issues of electronic risk management.

But while companies may have the legal right to spy on your computer moves, Flynn said the institute maintains they also have a moral and ethical obligation to let employees know they are being watched. She said the Institute advocates companies develop written policies and educate their employees about them.

So what is it management is looking for, beyond the obvious visits to porno sites?

"Companies are looking for employees who are taking courses on company time, looking for jobs, visiting gambling sites, pursuing hobbies, or frequently checking sports scores," said Tom Ewing, general manager of Compuquip Technologies Inc., a Doral-based systems integrator that also installs and monitors Internet management software.

Some companies track e-mail content not just for keywords that are harassing, discriminatory, threatening or obscene, but also for words that indicate chatter about sensitive company data or projects, he added.

Litigation has been one of the biggest spurs to online spying. Flynn said a recent survey by her group indicated 11 percent of the companies queried had already had e-mail or Internet records subpoenaed in workplace lawsuits.

In a classic 1998 case, Trout vs. City of Akron, an Ohio jury found that a female employee was harassed and subject to a hostile work environment because she could see the pornographic material her male co-worker downloaded off the Internet. She was awarded $265,000.

"Employers are stuck between a rock and a hard place -- they need to protect themselves without being so onerous that they create a terrible work environment," Ewing said.

If you're surprised, shocked or appalled by any of this, it's time you grew up.

You should know by now that any sense of privacy, anonymity or personal freedom online is pretty much a pipe dream. Especially when you are using somebody else's computer.

One software company boasts that its product can automatically record every e-mail -- incoming and outgoing -- every chat, every instant message, every Web site visited, and every program run. It can even record every keystroke, and take VCR-quality "snapshots" of your screen.

If this doesn't put a chill into your online activities, especially at work, it should.

And here's one more scary statistic: the ePolicy survey indicated that 51 percent of the corporations polled said they had fired or disciplined employees for violating the company's computer policies.

Christine Winter can be reached at cwinter@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4664.